Touch-sensing display device

ABSTRACT

A touch-sensing display device includes a display panel, a touch panel, a driver unit, and a flexible printed circuit board. The touch panel is disposed on the display panel, and the driver unit is disposed on the display panel to provide driving signals and drive the display panel and the touch panel. The flexible printed circuit board connects the display panel to a system main board.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of co-pending application Ser. No.13/006,121, filed on Jan. 13, 2011, for which priority is claimed under35 U.S.C. §120; this application claims priorities of Application No.099100866 filed in Taiwan on Jan. 14, 2010 and Application No. 099110273filed in Taiwan on Apr. 2, 2010 under 35 U.S.C. §119; and the entirecontents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a touch-sensing display device.

b. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional touch-sensing displaydevice 100. As shown in FIG. 1, an external touch panel 104 is attachedto a display panel 102, and a display panel driver IC (LCD driver) ofthe touch-sensing display device 100 and a touch panel driver IC (touchpanel controller) are separated from each other. Thus, two flexibleprinted circuit boards (FPC) are needed, where a first flexible printedcircuit board 106 connects the signals between the LCD driver and thesystem main board 110 and a second flexible printed circuit board 108connects the routing of the touch panel 104 and the touch panelcontroller and further connects them to the first flexible printedcircuit board 106. FIG. 2 shows another conventional touch-sensingdisplay device 200. As shown in FIG. 2, an embedded touch panel 204 isdirectly integrated into a display panel 202, and the display paneldriver IC (LCD driver) and the touch panel driver IC (touch panelcontroller) are separated from each other. Thus, similarly, two flexibleprinted circuit boards (FPC) are needed, where a first flexible printedcircuit board 206 connects the signals between the LCD driver and thesystem main board 210 and a second flexible printed circuit board 208connects the routing of the touch panel 204 and the signal lines of thesystem main board 210.

Therefore, according to the conventional designs, two flexible printedcircuit boards are needed to combine with a display panel driver IC anda touch panel driver IC separate from each to therefore decrease theproduction yield and increase fabrication costs. Thus, the routingdesign of a single driver IC that has the function of driving both adisplay panel and a touch panel is needed to reduce signal noises andlayout areas.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a touch-sensing display device having reducedsignal noises and layout areas.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a touch-sensing displaydevice includes a display panel, a touch panel, a driver unit, and aflexible printed circuit board. The touch panel is disposed on thedisplay panel, and the driver unit is disposed on the display panel toprovide driving signals and drive the display panel and the touch panel.The flexible printed circuit board connects the display panel to asystem main board.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a touch-sensingdisplay device includes a display panel, a touch panel, a driver unit, afirst flexible printed circuit board and a second flexible printedcircuit board. The driver unit is disposed on the display panel andprovides driving signals to drive the display panel and the touch panel.The first flexible printed circuit board is electrically connected tothe driver unit and connects the display panel to a system main boardthrough a first connector. The second flexible printed circuit boardconnects the touch panel to the first flexible printed circuit board.

According another embodiment of the invention, a touch-sensing displaydevice includes a display panel, a cover glass, a touch panel, a driverunit, a first flexible printed circuit board and a second flexibleprinted circuit board. The cover glass is disposed on one side of thedisplay panel, and the touch panel is formed on the cover glass. Thedriver unit is disposed on the display panel and provides drivingsignals to drive the display panel and the touch panel. The firstflexible printed circuit board connects the display panel to a systemmain board through a connector, and the second flexible printed circuitboard connects the touch panel to the display panel.

In one embodiment, the driver unit includes at least one first pad blockwith a first function and at least one second pad block with a secondfunction, the second function is different to the first function, andthe pad distribution or the pad arrangement of the first pad. block isdifferent to the pad distribution or the pad arrangement of the secondpad block.

In one embodiment, the driver unit includes at least one first pad blockwith a first function and at least one second pad block with a secondfunction, the second function is different to the first function, thefirst pad block comprises a plurality of first pads, the second padblock comprises a plurality of second pads, a pitch between two adjacentfirst pads is different to the distance between the first pad block andthe second pad block, and a pitch between two adjacent second pads isdifferent to the distance between the first pad block and the second padblock.

In one embodiment, the driver unit includes at least one first pad blockwith a first function and at least one second pad block with a secondfunction, the second function is different to the first function, thefirst pad block comprises a plurality of first pads, the second padblock comprises a plurality of second pads, and a pitch between twoadjacent first pads, a pitch between two adjacent second pads and thedistance between the first pad block and the second pad block aredifferent from each other.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will befurther understood from the further technological features disclosed bythe embodiments of the invention wherein there are shown and describedpreferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustrationof modes best suited to carry out the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional touch-sensing displaydevice according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of another conventional touch-sensingdisplay device according to the prior art.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice according to an embodiment of the invention and FIG. 3B shows apartial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice according to another embodiment of the invention and FIG. 4Bshows a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice according to another embodiment of the invention and FIG. 5Bshows a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice according to another embodiment of the invention and FIG. 6Bshows a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 6A.

FIGS. 7-10 show distribution schematic diagrams of different pad blockswith different functions according to different embodiments of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof,and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directionalterminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” etc., is usedwith reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. Thecomponents of the invention can be positioned in a number of differentorientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposesof illustration and is in no way limiting. On the other hand, thedrawings are only schematic and the sizes of components may beexaggerated for clarity. It is to be understood that other embodimentsmay be utilized and structural changes may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms“connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein areused broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings,and mountings. Similarly, the terms “facing,” “faces” and variationsthereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirectfacing, and “adjacent to” and variations thereof herein are used broadlyand encompass directly and indirectly “adjacent to”. Therefore, thedescription of “A” component facing “B” component herein may contain thesituations that “A” component directly faces “B” component or one ormore additional components are between “A” component and “B” component.Also, the description of “A” component “adjacent to” “B” componentherein may contain the situations that “A” component is directly“adjacent to” “B” component or one or more additional components arebetween “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings anddescriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

FIG. 3A shows a touch-sensing display device 10 according to anembodiment of the invention, and FIG. 39 shows a partial cross-sectionalschematic diagram of FIG. 3A. As shown in FIG. 3A, the touch-sensingdisplay device 10 includes a display panel 12, a touch panel 14, adriver unit 16, and a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) 18. The touchpanel 14 is disposed on the display panel 12, and the driver unit 16 isdisposed on the display panel 12 to provide driving signals for drivingthe display panel 12 and the touch panel 14. The flexible printedcircuit board 18 connects the display panel 12 to a system main board24. Specifically, the flexible printed circuit board 18 may connect thedisplay panel 12 to a connector 22, and the connector 22 is connected toa system main board 24. In this embodiment, the gate driver (RASDcircuit 26 shown in FIG. 3A) of the display panel 12 is embedded in abottom glass 12 a of the display panel 12, and the driver unit 16 is,for example, a single driver IC with a touch-sensing function. Thedriver unit 16 provides driving signals to drive the display panel 12and the touch panel 14 and includes a source channel 32, a touch panel(TP) controller 34, and control lines of the gate driver. As shown inFIG. 3B, the touch panel 14 is embedded in the display panel 12, andsignal lines of the touch panel 14 are connected to a pad 38 on thebottom glass 12 a of the display panel 12 through an outer lead 28 andsilver paste 36. The pad 38 is interconnected with the driver unit 16,and a cover glass 42 covers the touch panel 14.

In this embodiment, signal lines of the touch panel 14 are directlyconnected to the driver unit 16 having a touch-sensing function on thebottom glass 12 a of the display panel 12. Therefore, only one flexibleprinted circuit board, one connector, and one IC are needed to therebyincrease the production yield and reduce fabrication costs, signalnoises and layout areas.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice 20 according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4Bshows a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 4A. As shownin FIGS. 4A and 4B, the touch-sensing display device 20 includes adisplay panel 12, a touch panel 14, a driver unit 16, a first flexibleprinted circuit board 18 a and a second flexible printed circuit board18 b. The driver unit 16 is disposed on the display panel 12 andprovides driving signals to drive the display panel 12 and the touchpanel 14. The first flexible printed circuit board 18 a is electricallyconnected to the driver unit 16 and connects the display panel 12 to afirst connector 22 a, and the first connector 22 a is connected to asystem main board 24. Signal lines X1-Xm and Y1-Yn of the touch panel 14are connected to the first flexible printed circuit board 18 a throughthe first outer lead 28 a of the touch panel 14, the second flexibleprinted circuit board 18 b and the second connector 22 b, and therouting of the first flexible printed circuit board 18 a is connected tothe driver unit 16 through the second outer lead 28 b of the displaypanel 12. Besides, a cover glass 42 covers the touch panel 14, and thetouch panel 14 may be formed on a glass carrier 48. In this embodiment,the driver unit 16 is, for example, a single driver IC with atouch-sensing function. The driver unit 16 provides driving signals fordriving the display panel 12 and the touch panel 14 and includes asource channel 32, a gate channel 44 and a touch panel controller 34.The gate channel 44 may be divided into two parts, a left part of thegate channel 44 may drive odd-numbered gate lines, and a right part ofthe gate channel 44 may drive even-numbered gate lines.

FIG. 5A shows a schematic diagram illustrating a touch-sensing displaydevice 30 according to another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 5Bshows a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of FIG. 5A. As shownin FIGS. 5A and 5B, the touch-sensing display device 30 includes adisplay panel 12, a touch panel 14, a driver unit 16, a first flexibleprinted circuit board 18 a and a second flexible printed circuit board18 b. A cover glass 42 is disposed on one side of the display panel 12,and the touch panel 14 is formed on the cover glass 42. The driver unit16 is disposed on the display panel 12 and provides driving signals todrive the display panel 12 and the touch panel 14. The first flexibleprinted circuit board 18 a connects the display panel 12 to a connector22, and the connector 22 is connected to a system main board 24. Signallines of the touch panel 14 are connected to a second outer lead 28 b ofthe display panel 12 through a first outer lead 28 a of the touch panel14 and the second flexible printed circuit board 18 b, and the secondouter lead 28 b is connected to a touch panel controller 34 of thedriver unit 16. In this embodiment, the driver unit 16 is, for example,a single driver IC with a touch-sensing function. The driver unit 16includes a source channel 32, a gate channel 44 and a touch panelcontroller 34 to provide driving signals for driving the display panel12 and the touch panel 14. The gate channel 44 may be divided into twoparts, a left part of the gate channel 44 may drive odd-numbered gatelines, and a right part of the gate channel 44 may drive even-numberedgate lines.

The touch-sensing display device 40 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is similarto the touch-sensing display device 30 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, exceptthe driver unit 16 of the touch-sensing display device 40 includes afirst touch panel controller 34 a and a second touch panel controller 34b. A half of signal lines of the touch panel 14 are connected to thesecond outer lead 28 b of the display panel 12 through the first outerlead 28 a of the touch panel 14 and the second flexible printed circuitboard 18 b, and the second outer lead 28 b is connected to the firsttouch panel controller 34 a of the driver unit 16. The other half ofsignal lines of the touch panel 14 are connected to the fourth outerlead 28 d of the display panel 12 through the third outer lead 28 c ofthe touch panel 14 and the third flexible printed circuit board 18 c,and the fourth outer lead 28 d is connected to the second touch panelcontroller 34 b of the driver unit 16.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the wiring configurations of thetouch panel 14 and the display panel 12 can be exchanged with each otherto also achieve the same effect of reducing noises and layout areas.

Besides, since the driver unit 16 has both the effects of driving adisplay panel and performing touch-sensing controls, the following willdescribe how to differentiate the functionalities of a source pad blockSP, a gate pad block GP, a touch pad block TP, and a driver controlsignal pad block DP in the driver unit 16.

As shown in FIG. 7, the source pad block SP and the gate pad block GPare disposed on a longitudinal side of the driver unit 16 and the touchpad blocks TP are disposed on two lateral sides (on the left-hand sideand the right-hand side of the longitudinal side) of the driver unit 16.The pads in the touch pad blocks TP, the source pad block SP and thegate pad block GP may be arranged into a row. Therefore, thefunctionalities of the source pad block SP, the gate pad block GP andthe touch pad blocks TP can be distinguished by the distributionpositions on the driver unit 16.

As shown in FIG. 8, the source pad block SP and the gate pad block GPare disposed on a longitudinal side of the driver unit 16, and the touchpad blocks TP are disposed towards the right-hand side or the left-handside of the longitudinal side of the driver unit 16. The pads in thetouch pad blocks TP, the source pad block SP and the gate pad block GPare arranged into two rows. In this embodiment, when a pitch between twoadjacent pads in the touch pad block TP is G1, a pitch between twoadjacent pads in the source pad block SP (or gate pad block GP) is G3,the distance between the touch pad blocks TP and the source pad block SP(gate pad block GP) is G2, it is designed to have G1≠G2 and G3≠G2 ordesigned to have G1≠G2≠G3. Therefore, the functionalities of blocks canbe distinguished by the pitch of pads and the distance between blocks.

As shown in FIG. 9, the source pad block SP (or gate pad block GP) isdisposed on a longitudinal side of the driver unit 16 and the touch padblocks TP are disposed towards the right-hand side or the left-hand sideof the longitudinal side of the driver unit 16. The pads in the touchpad blocks TP are arranged into one row, and the pads in the source padblock SP (or gate pad block GP) are arranged into two rows. Therefore,the functionalities of blocks can be distinguished by differentarrangement of pads.

As shown in FIG. 10, the driver control signal pad block DP is disposedon a longitudinal side of the driver unit 16, and the touch pad blocksTP are disposed towards the left-hand side or the right-hand side of thelongitudinal side of the driver unit 16. The pads in the touch padblocks TP, the driver control signal pad block DP, the source pad blockSP and the gate pad block GP are all arranged into two rows. In thisembodiment, when a pitch between two adjacent pads in the touch padblock TP is G1, a pitch between two adjacent pads in the driver controlsignal pad block DP is G3, the distance between the driver controlsignal pad block DP and the touch pad blocks TP is G2, it is designed tohave G1≠G2 and G3≠G2 or designed to have G1≠G2≠G3. Therefore, thefunctionalities of blocks can be distinguished by the pitch of pads andthe distance between blocks.

In the above embodiments, the arrangement and the positions of pads inthe pad block can be altered. Besides, the touch panel 14 in the aboveembodiments is only shown as an example but not limits the invention.Any touch-sensing element capable of performing touch-sensing controlscan be applied to each embodiment of the invention. The foregoingdescription of the preferred embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formor to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent topractitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the invention andits best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilledin the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and withvarious modifications as are suited to the particular use orimplementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalentsin which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unlessotherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the presentinvention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to aspecific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferredexemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation onthe invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The inventionis limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Theabstract of the disclosure is provided to comply with the rulesrequiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher to quickly ascertainthe subject matter of the technical disclosure of any patent issued fromthis disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will notbe used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Anyadvantages and benefits described may not apply to all embodiments ofthe invention. It should be appreciated that variations may be made inthe embodiments described by persons skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined by the followingclaims. Moreover, no element and component in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the elementor component is explicitly recited in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch-sensing display device, comprising: adisplay panel; a cover glass disposed on one side of the display panel;a touch-sensing element formed on the cover glass; a driver IC disposedon the display panel and providing driving signals to drive the displaypanel and the touch-sensing element, wherein the driver IC comprises atleast one first pad block associated with a touch-sensing function andat least one second pad block associated with a display function, thefirst pad block has multiple first pads arranged to form a firstpattern, the second pad block has multiple second pads arranged to forma second pattern, and the first pattern is different to the secondpattern; a first flexible printed circuit board for connecting thedisplay panel to a system main board; and a second flexible printedcircuit board for connecting the touch-sensing element o the firstflexible printed circuit board.
 2. The touch-sensing display device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the display panel is connected to the systemmain board through a first connector, the touch-sensing elementcomprises a first outer lead, the display panel comprises a second outerlead, signal lines of the touch-sensing element are connected to thefirst flexible printed circuit board through the first outer lead, thesecond flexible printed circuit board and a second connector, and therouting of the first flexible printed circuit board is connected to thedriver IC through the second outer lead.
 3. The touch-sensing displaydevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein an arrangement of the first padsin the first pad block is different to an arrangement of the second padsin the second pad block.
 4. The touch-sensing display device as claimedin claim 1, wherein a pitch between two adjacent first pads in the firstpad block is different to a pitch between two adjacent second pads inthe second pad block.
 5. The touch-sensing display device as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the driver IC comprises a source channel, a gatechannel and a touch panel controller.
 6. The touch-sensing displaydevice as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first pad block is a sourcepad block, the first pads are source pads, the second pad block is atouch pad block, the second pads are touch pads, and an arrangement ofthe source pads in the source pad block is different to an arrangementof the touch pads in the touch pad block.
 7. The touch-sensing displaydevice as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first pad block is a sourcepad block, the first pads are source pads, the second pad block is atouch pad block, the second pads are touch pads, and a pitch between twoadjacent source pads in the source pad block is different to a pitchbetween two adjacent touch pads in the touch pad block.
 8. Thetouch-sensing display device as claimed in claim 1, wherein thetouch-sensing element is a touch panel, and the cover glass covers thetouch panel.